Coating-machine.



W. C. SCHOPPNER.

comma mcnmz.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I5. 19!].

1 ,2? 0,88 1 Patented July 2, 1918.

I N V EN TOR.

r A TTORNEYS.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER SCHOPPNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 NATIONAL EQUIPMENT COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF massncnusn'rrs.

COATING-MACHINE.

Patented July 2, 1918.

Application filed September 15, 1917. Serial No. 191,510.

and the like and more particularly to improvements in suc machines, whereby the articles as they are conveyed therethrough may be held from movement on their conveying means.

The invention is particularly concerned with that type of coating apparatus, which is adapted for use with a decorating depositor. In such apparatus, the confections are coated as they travel through the machine and subsequently the coated confections travel in under the depositor and are decorated with confectionery material applied in various configurations. It is desirable, in order to secure the best results-in decorating, tohave the confections positioned on the conveying belt so that each will be carried into proper position below an outlet of the depositor. According to a commonly used method, the confections are positioned, by suitable means, either automatically or by hand, on the conveyer belt as they are fed thereto and before the coat- This method is simthe confections are maintained in their proper positions until delivered to the depositor. Before the confections reach the automatic decorating devices, there are various influences which may cause movement of the confections relatively to the conveyer, such, for example, as vibration, the coating devices and associated mechanism, and this invention is concerned among other things with the provision of improved means to hold the confections on the conveyer during the times and operations in which they are exposedto disturbing influences.

An object of the inventlon 1s to provide, in combination with a conveyer for the articles to be coated and means to coat the articles while on the conveyer, means automatically en ageable with the articles before and automatically disengageable from the articles after the operations between the proper positioning of the confections in the machine and the decorating operations to hold the articles against relative movement in all directions on the conveyer or conveyers.

Another object of the invention is to provide an endless band movable at the same speed as the confection conveyer and having a portion of its travel in spaced substantiall parallel relation above the conveyer, the elt being arranged to lightly rest upon the tops of the articles to be coated to hold them to the conveyer or conveyers and prevent their displacement during the coating operation, the construction being characterized in that articles of varying widths and shapes and articles of irregular shape within certain limits may be effectively held by the band without necessitating ad ustments for variations in the character of the articles.

Other objects andadvantages will appear in the following description and in the ap- I pended claims. a

The invention, in an embodiment at present preferred, is shown for illustrative purposes in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a coating machine, embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a detail elevational view illustrative of the mounting of the movable retaining member; and Fig. 3 is a diagrammatical view illustrative of the operation of the confection retaining member.

Referring to these drawings, the coating machine may be of any suitable type and the invention is independent of the particular type of machine employed. As illustrated, a suitable conveyer, which is of coarse texture, and permeable by the coating maten'al, is mounted to travel within a casing A. Belt a, which may be a wire belt of the form well known in the art, is supported by suitable devices 6 in the usual manner and is driven from a roll 0 in the direction of the arrow by suitable means not shown. Confections to be coated are fed upon belt a near the right hand end thereof and means are provided within casing A to completely coat the confections while they are on the belt. For example, a tank 03,

supported above belt a and provided with one or more outlets e, is arran ed to direct coating material such as choco ate, for expair of rotatable rolls f mounted with their upper peripheries substantially tangential with belt a, take part of the excess coating material falling through the belt and apply it to the bottom surfaces of the confections whereby they are coated. Above belt a and beyond tank d in the direction of travel of the belt is a fan 9 which is arranged to deliver ablastof air through a nozzle it upon the coated confections as they travel thereinunder. This blast of air removes surplus coating material from the confections, leaving the latter completely enveloped with a substantially uniform coating.

The coating machine described is given merely as' an illustrative example of one operabletype, which is suitable for use with the present invention, and other types may be used as desired.

Beyond the belt a is another belt 11 which is suitably driven in the'illustrated direction from a roll j and is guided by devices is in a manner similar to belt a. travel of belts a and i are arranged substantially in the same horizontal plane, and the belts are movable closely adjacent one another to form a substantially continuous and unbroken conveying surface for the confections. The latter after being coated are conveyed from casingA by belt z' to a decorator, which may be of any suitable type, and may, for example, be of the type shown 1n the patent to Kihlgren No. 1,210,946, dated January 2, 1917. The decorator (indicated diagrammatically by reference letter D) may be arranged closely adjacent the end of the left hand upper travel of belt 71. As is well known and as disclosed in the above mentioned patent, the decorator involves one or more nozzles which direct coating material upon the confections as they travel thereinunder to form various decorative configurations on the coated confections. To secure satisfactory decoration of the latter, it is obviously desirable to 'aline the confections with the nozzles of the decorator. With the present invention, the confections are fed upon belt a in preperly spaced relation so that each will be carried into proper position in under the decorator. The initial positioning of the confections on belt a may be accomplished The upperhardest conveyers so that the confections once properly positioned will be maintained properly positioned to accurately line up with the decorator. This improved means consists of a belt 5, which is permeable to coating material and may be similar in construction to belt a. Belt 5 is carried by suitable rolls 6, 7, and 8, the latter being driven by suitable means not shown, to travel in a looped path within which are located the tank d and fan 9. Rolls 7 are preferably adjustably mounted in casing A, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, so that they may be raised or lowered for adjustment purposes, and roll 6 is preferably movably mounted to. tighten belt 5 when desired. The latter is adapted to be driven at the same surface speed as belts on and z and its lower travel is in substantially parallel relation with and spaced above the upper travel of belts a and i. The lower travel -of belt 5 overlies all of the upper travel of belt a and all except the left hand portion of the upper travel of belt z" over which portion the decorating devices are adapted to be suitably arranged.

In operation, the confections m are fed upon the right hand portion of the upper travel of belt a in the desired spaced relation by suitable means. The lower travel of belt 5 adjacent rolls 7 is spaced .from belts a and i a distance greater thantiie height of the confections and intermediate these rolls the belt 5 sags so that it is spaced from belts a and i by a distance less than the height of the confections. Rolls 7 may be moved, by the means illustrated in Fig. 2, to obtain the spacing of belt 5 from belts a and 2', best calculated to eifect the desired result or to adjust the travel of belts a and 11 for varying kinds of work, for example,.for confections of greater or less height than those illustrated. The roll 6 mav also be moved to secure the requisite tension in belt 5 and in connection with rolls 7 to provide for the requisite amount of sag in the belt between the latter. The confections then enter casing A freely without contact with belt 5 but after traveling a short distance on belt a, the belt'5 traveling at the same speed, rests upon the tops'of the confections,

as best shown in Fig. 3. Thus, the latter confections might cause movement of the V latter and. a disturbance of their previously adjusted positions. having been subjected to the action of the The confections after various devices in casing A travel upon belt a and are still retained properly positioned by the weight of the slightly sagging belt 5. As the confections approach the end of belt i, where the decorating apparatus is located, the belt 5 is drawn upwardly toward roll 7 and is lifted free from the confections but not until the latter have practically reached the decorator and not until all possibility of displacement of the confections, by the coatingoperations or any other means, has been passed. Thus, it is insured that the confections, once previously positioned in the desired manner on belt a, will be delivered 'in the samemanner on the belt 2' at the decorator or other desired point.

An important feature of the construction described consists in the location of the belt 5. By its arrangement to travel above and in spaced substantially parallel relation with the confection conveyors, the tops only of the confections are engaged, and, as distinguished from belts otherwise engageable' with the confections, the present arrangement accomplishes with one belt What must needs require several otherwise arranged. Moreover, the width, shape, and regularity or irregularity of contour of the confections is entirely immaterial and does not have any adverse influence on the effectiveness of the holding means. Thus, the belt 5 on account of its sag does not require adjustment to meet variations in the Width and shape of the articles. Moreover, the belt is operable within limits to accommodate articles of varying heights and is adjustable simply and conveniently to accommodate the larger variations in height. Thus, a single endless band mounted as described is operable to effectively hold a plurality of rows of contections which may vary in Width and shape and in height Within limits.

The invention has been described in merely one of its embodiments for the purposes of illustration, but the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description.

What I claim is- 1. The combination with a conveying means for articles, of a device to operate on the articles While on said means, and a member traveling in spaced relation with said means and at the same speed and in the same direction as said means, said member arranged to hold the articles to said means during the operation of said device solely by exerting a portion of its weight on each article.-

2. The combination with a conveying means for articles, of devices to operate on the latter while on said means, and an endless belt m vable in the same direction and at the same speed as the conveying means, said belt arranged to sag in a portion of its travel and to be slightly raised by the incomin articles, whereby art of the weight said device and hold them solely by its weight to the conveying means.

4. The combination, in a coating machine, of a conveying means for the articles to be coated, means to coat the articles while on said means, an endless belt movable at the same speed with said means, guiding devices to direct the belt in a portion of its travel in spaced substantially parallel relation with the conveying means, the belt adjacent said devices being spaced from said means a distance greater than the height of the articles and arranged to sag intermediate said devices, whereby, the sagging portion of the belt may rest upon the tops of the articles on said means and hold them to and against relative moven'ienton the latter.

5. The combination in a coating machine, of a conveying. means for articles to be coated, means above the conveying means to coat the articles while on the latter, and an endless band permeable by the coating material and arranged to travel at the same speed as and in spaced substantially parallel relation with and above the conveying means, said band arranged to sag in a portion of its travel to engage and by its weight hold the articles from moving on the con veying means during the operation of said coating means.

WILLIAM CHRISTOPHER SCHOPPNER. 

